82 • Belleving Unto Discipleship: Jesus of Nazareth DISCERN To understand what Jesus thought of the

Kingdom, we have to bear in mind again that Jesus was a Jew and as such his thinking was shaped by his
Jewish tradition. Jesus did not invent the idea of the Kingdom of God. The notion was already in the
Hebrew Bible. In his prayerful moments, Jesus could have reflected on this idea of his tradition and given
it a radically new interpretation both in his actions and preaching A. THE KINGDOM IN THE HEBREW
BIBLE The idea of the Kingdom of God developed from the experiences the Israelite people had of
Yahweh, their God. Through history, they experienced Yahweh as giving them salvation. They
understood the salvation of Yahweh as taking on many forms: deliverance from slavery, possession of
land, victory over enemies, fertility of the land, prosperity of the family, the gift of wisdom, the
expectation of a messiah, and life beyond death. In order to verbalize and communicate these
experiences of salvation, they made use of a political expression: kingship. God made the Israelites a
people and gave them kings to rule over them. The Israelites understood that the primary task of their
kings was to lead them and to make them into a nation in which justice and equality would reign. But
their kings failed in their duty. They grabbed for themselves the riches of the land given to all. The
prophets castigated the kings because of their greed and announced that after a period of trial and
suffering, God Himself would come to rule over Israel. He would truly be the King of Israel who would
lead the nation to justice, equality, abundance and well being. Several centuries before Jesus, the
prophet Isaiah was proclaiming this vision of salvation. Salvation for him is the coming of God's reign of
justice and liberation.
Jesus and the Kingdom. 83 Exercise The following are taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Underline words or phrases that you think describe what God's reign or Kingdom is for Isaiah. How
beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who herald peace and
happiness, who proclaim salvation and announce to Zion": "Your God is king'"(Is 527) Go up onto the
high mountain, messenger of Zion, lift up your voice with strength, fear not to cry aloud when you tell
Jerusalem and announce to the cities of Judah: "Here is your God!" (1:40:9) Then will the eyes of the
blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unsealed. Then will the lame leap as a hart and the tongue of
the dumb sing and shout. For water will break out in the wilderness and streams gush forth from the
desert. (Is 35:5-6). On that day the deaf will hear the words of the book, and out of the dark and
obscurity the eyes of the blind will see. The meek will find joy and the poor among men will rejoice in
the Holy One of Israel ST (Is 29:18-19) The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has
anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up broken hearts, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, freedom to those languishing in prison; to announce the year of Yahweh's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God; to give comfort to all who grieve. (Is 61:1-2) See the fast that
pleases me: breaking the fetters of injustice and unfastening the thongs of the yoke, setting the
oppressed free and breaking every yoke. (Is 58:6) Note that Isaiah's vision of salvation is not our popular
idea of souls going to heaven. Rather, it is a wealth of blessings in life. To appreciate this better, let us
have a closer look at one of the passages in the above exercise. The year of the Yahweh's favor (Is 61:2)
could refer to both the biblical sabbatical year and the jubilee year. The sabbatical year is celebrated
every seventh year and the jubilee year every fiftieth year (Lev. 25:1-10). The provisions of the
sabbatical year are incorpo
1. The K For pages of religion good ng messag messag punish phasis co the punis 84 . Believing Unto
Discipleship: Jesus of Nazareth rated in the jubilee year. The provisions of the jubilee year can be very
attractive to us living in the Philippine situation. If you have been suffering due to generations of
poverty, the land or house you were forced to sell because of poverty will be given back to you. Your
daugh ter who has served as a housemaid in Manila will come back to you with enough money to spend
on food and clothing for a good length of time. Your farm will rest from chemical fertilizers. All your
utang incurred from banks and usurers are wiped clean. The biblical jubilee year is about a socio-
economic program. It is a course of action to be taken. It is about transformation in society. It is a move
against accumulation of wealth and towards the removal of poverty. It is aimed at the promotion of
equality in the community The book of Deuteronomy expresses in a very few words the reason behind
the prescriptions of the jubilee year: "However you should have no poor in your midst for Yahweh will
give you prosperity in the land that you have conquered." (Dt 15:4). Yahweh desired that every Israel ite
enjoy the blessings of this life. These blessings are included in Isaiah's total picture of future salvation
when God asserts sovereignty over human history; when God shows he is king. God's kingdom will
come. For Isaiah, God's kingdom is the good news of liberation and justice for the poor and oppressed.
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will walk, the captives will be freed, and the dead will live
again. Again, Isaiah does not envision souls going to heaven. The Kingdom is new life for all creation proc
This B. THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR JESUS During Jesus' time, the pronouncements of Isaiah were read,
studied, and meditated on in synagogues and schools. If we read the gospels, it is apparent that Jesus
was familiar with many of the passages from Isaiah we noted earlier. He used them many times. He
must have been meditating on these passages. Isaiah's proclamations originally spoke of the good news
of God's kingly power freeing the oppressed Jews from the Babylonian exile. In the gospels, Jesus
addresses this good news of God's kingdom to the people of his time.
Jesus and the Kingdom • 85 1. The Kingdom as Good News For some people, good news is no
news. More than half of the sages of our newspapers and tabloids are filled with bad news. Even in
Caligion, there are those of us who prefer to hear bad news rather than wood news. A lot of times
we read articles or hear people speak of messages revealed" to certain "seers" by the Blessed
Mother. These messages contain good news of peace and bad news of destruction or punishment.
Many have been emphasizing the latter. The undue emphasis strikes fear in the hearts of people.
This can lead unfortunately to the thinking that Christianity is a religion of gloom, of suffering, of
punishment, and of burdensome requirements. So different from many of us, Jesus announced good
news. He proclaimed a God who cares for the very concrete needs of his people. This is the basis of
his understanding of the kingdom. llow: the blind see, the dead are or. And how (Mt 11:4-6) I me to
bring ves and new ce the Lord's eat light; on labas
Μια (BC Jesus echoes Isaiah's dream of the kingdom. The kingdom of God is a new world. It is on
earth. In it, people will experience various life blessings. It is not identical with what we commonly
understand heaven. For the Jews "heaven" is the sky above. It is not earth below The kingdom of
God is earth, a new carth. For Jesus and his conter poraries, the kingdom is synonymous with
salvation. In expectation of salvation, a Jew did not say: "I pray to go to heaven." He would say
instead: "I pray that the kingdom may come." Salvation did not mean escaping earth and going to
heaven. It is, rather, living a beautiful meaningful life on earth. Sometimes, the bible uses the phrase
"kingdom of heaven" in. stead of "kingdom of God." Out of great reverence for the almighty creator,
the Jews did not like to utter the name of God. They substi tuted "heaven" for "God" because in their
worldview, God was resid. ing above the sky, in the heavenly abode. The words "God" and "heaven
therefore are equivalent terms. "Kingdom of God," therefore, is the same as "kingdom of heaven." 2.
The Good News of the Kingdom Does Not Ask for Performance Our society is performance oriented.
We always ask the question, "Ano ba ang magagawa mo?"(What can you contribute?). "Kaya mo ba
ang kaya kong gawin?" (Can you do what I can do?). We always demand something from the
others. We live like corporate officers screening applicants for a job. We accept people depending
on their capacity to pass our requirements: intellectual capacity, good looks, moral uprightness, and
relevant experience, and other qualifications. In the religious sphere, we think and behave similarly.
Think about the following statements:
J anne Krodom. Magpakabuti ka kung gusto mong mak (Be good if you like to enter the kingdom of
God). a burinn Diye Ang langit ay para sa mga mabuti ang haban Heaven ist served to those who
are good). tela kang karapatang pumasok sa langit (You did not earn the right to enter heaven)
Buhay ka pay tunog na ang kaluluw mo sa impiyer You still on carth, but your soul is already burning
in hell). The statements above indicate how we put so much emphasis on what we can do as pre-
requisite to the coming of the kingdom. We look at ourselves as builders of the kingdom. This is as if
the coming of the kingdom depends primarily on us. The song. No, You Can't Go Heaven expresses
this in a funny but very revealing way No, you can't go to heaven with your long, long hair For the
Lord doesn't want any Rock Star there (2x). I ought to agree. My Lord, no more. My Lord, no more.
No, you can't go to heaven with a bottle of beer For the Lord hates to see any drunkard there (2x). I
ought to agree. My Lord, no more. My Lord, no more. The song continues humorously enumerating
human follies, vices, obsessions, and faults that need eradicating for one to enter the Kingdom.
Jesus did not think of the Kingdom this way. For him, the Kingdom is a gift. It is God's doing. It is an
offer. We can only inherit it. Here are texts from the gospels that can help us appreciate this gift
aspect of the Kingdom: The King will say to those on his right: 'Come, blessed of my Father! Take
possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. (Mt 25:34) I tell you,
then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
(Mt 32:43) Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. (Lk
12:32)
 88. Believing Unto Discipleship Jesus of Nazareth Jesus criticized the Pharisees for their
sceming reliance on their own efforts to look good in the eyes of God (nagpapapogi). We are sure
Jesus was not a lazy person. He went atound preaching, cuting the sick, and was serious about
doing good. But he frowned upon consid. ering one's efforts as requirements for entry into the
kingdom. For Jesus, God's generosity is greater than our faults and failures. The low able story of
the prodigal son illustrates this very well. In that parable the father did not wait for his son to
dramatize with tears a well te hearsed, though doubtful, "patawad, itay" (I'm sorry, papa!). Even be
fore the son finished explaining himself, the father announced a fease "Take the fattened calf and kill
it. ... Let us celebrate!" (Lk 15:11-321 Of course, Jesus spoke about conversion. He expects a
person to change his/her ways for the better. But he did not think that our entry into the Kingdom
depends solely on what we can do with our life. He saw conversion itself as a gift coming from God.
Jesus' concern was, first of all, making people whole, healing, comforting. Often, the gospels present
that it was after people experienced Jesus' healing touch and comforting words that changes
happened in their lives (Lk 7:3650; 19:1-10; 5:17-26; Mk 10: 46-52). The Kingdom is, first of all, a
manifestation of God's gracious ness. It is an invitation to a celebration in which the cripple, the poor.
the outcast, and the sinners can share (Lk 14:12-24). The table fellow ships Jesus had with the
ordinary people illustrate this point. Jesus usually sat at table with the outcast and sinners. Nobody
was required to do something to be worthy of the meal. If afterwards changes occur in the lives of
these people who sat at table, these changes were a response to Jesus' offer of friendship signified
by the meal. It is in this way that we view conversion. Conversion is a response to God's
graciousness. It is a result rather than a pre-condition Since the kingdom is a gift, are we saying that
it is meaningless to exert effort to live a good life? Is the kingdom not also a task? In a sense, the
kingdom is also a task. We have to do something. Yet, what we do is encompassed by God's
gracious and transforming presence. Our doing, our involvement, is itself a gift.
3. The Kingdom as an End to Power Relationships Within a society where so much power is
concentrated in the hands of a few, the tendency for massive oppression is greater. This seems to
be the case in the Philippines. The few powerful people are Jording it over the masses. Many
common people are trying to graba share of this power in order to improve their economic, political,
and social standing by showing their "loyalty" to the power-holders. These people are usually
branded as sipsip (people who make a show of their loyalty to somebody in order to gain
something). They enjoy the ad vantages of being close to power-holders but are criticized by many
for their blind loyalty. This "loyalty" is that kind that makes a person subservient to the will and whims
of the powerful Relationships based on power are oppressive. They are also de humanizing for both
the victim and the one who oppresses. We might have heard some people angrily say: "Ginagamit
lamang niya tayo!" (He is just using us! This is a serious statement. When you use some body, you
treat the person as a thing. When the powerful imposes his/ her will on the powerless, the latter
becomes less free, less responsible, less creative, and therefore treated as a lesser human being
with lesser rights and privileges. The oppressor, likewise, becomes less a human person in the
sense that he/she does not behave as one. We are human beings only insofar as we respond to the
call to love. In modern societies, including the Philippines, one's rights and privileges depend on how
much power or influence one can wield or
90. Believing Unto Discipleship: Jesus of Nazareth flaunt. For example, those who can set foot on
Malacañang usually receive greater privileges than those who cannot. This is notwithstanding the
fact that we can proclaim the immortal words of President Estrada: "Sa akin, pantay-pantay ang
lahat. Walang kamag-anak, walang kaibigan, walang kumpare o kumare" (When it comes to justice
and fair play, I do not recognize a relative, a friend, or an acquaintance). Jesus saw a similar
situation in his society. In the Jewish society of his time, rights and privileges were apportioned
according to one's rank. One of higher rank receives more privileges as compared to another of
lower rank. Jesus contradicted this. He dared to hope for a society in which such distinctions would
have no meaning. For Jesus, power, like wealth, is not a master. It is servant. One who has power,
one who has influence, must serve. At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Who is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of
the disciples, and said, "I assure you that unless you change and become like little children, you
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes lowly like this child is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child in my name receives me." (Mt 18:1-5; Confer
also Mt. 20:20-28). The true basis of human relationship for Jesus was compassion* (malasakit). As
God accepts people for what they are, so we are called to do the same.
- other? They those who want to even religious. D: Jesus and the Kingdom . 91 4. The Kingdom is
Offered to all Who usually love to distinguish one ber? They are those who have so much concern
with rank or status inguish one group of people from anse who want to use their status to gain or
maintain advantage over bers. The advantage may be economic, political, social, cultural, or in
religious. Distinctions are used many times for selfish ends. We are familiar already with the
oppressive distinctions within lewish society during the time of Jesus. The rich, the righteous, the
ducated, and the law abiding were on one side of the fence. The poor, he sinners, the ignorant, and
the lawbreakers were on the other side. These distinctions were even justified and maintained by a
one-sided interpretation of the law and religion. Jesus' words and actions rebelled against these
divisions. He went looking for a single lost sheep (Lk 15:1-7). "Healthy people don't need a doctor,
but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Mk. 2:17). He touched the
lepers. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. For the "decent" Jews of Jesus' time, these gestures
were unthinkable. Jesus understood the kingdom of God as solidarity with all persons. Solidarity is
based on compassion - that emotion that rises from deep within us at the sight of somebody
suffering or in need. Compassion made Jesus love people because they are persons, not because
of their wealth, class, and goodness. He did not love people for what he could get. On the contrary
he never gained the respect and friendship of most of the influential when he chose to deal with the
rabble of his society. A "decent" Jew should not mix with the sinners and outcasts because s/he will
become impure. Ultimately, Jesus' open violation of the law on purity led to his losing everything - he
was killed. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan*, Jesus extended the Jewish very exclusive
definition of the word "neighbor" to include one's enemies (Lk 10:29-37). After Jesus died, the early
Christian community had to struggle with the idea that God cared also for the gentiles as much as he
cared for the Jews. The whole book of the Acts of the Apostles could be seen as a story of the
gradual realization of early Christianity of the idea that salvation was offered to all. In Acts, the
stories of Philip, Peter, and Paul, are testimonies to this growing consciousness. Philip was
presented as